New Beijing Olympics event: The Journalist Throw

posted at 12:45 pm on August 15, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

The Olympics movement may never recover from their toadying to the oppressive Chinese government, thanks to Beijing’s predictably authoritarian response to reporters covering protests. Both ITV and the Guardian have footage of Chinese police manhandling Western reporters covering a peaceful Free Tibet protest. USA Today’s On Deadline reports on the weak response from the IOC:

John Ray, a correspondent for ITN, says he was “bundled away, pushed to the floor and pinned down” before being “manhandled into the back of a police van.” …

“They are claiming I tried to unfurl a Tibet banner. I did not at any time try to unfurl a banner and I have never possessed any banner or protest material. I was there simply to report on a demonstration, not to take part in it in any way,” he tells The Guardian.

When pressed for comment, the IOC — which claimed that the international press would have freedom to report on all events in China — did not even bother to commit to action over the incidents:

“The IOC does disapprove of any attempts to hinder a journalist who is going about or doing his job seemingly within the rules and regulation,” IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies tells reporters, according to AFP. “We do not want to see it happening again.”

Well, don’t break a sweat or anything, IOC. Glad you disapprove of arresting journalists for doing their jobs. Any plans to take action to go with that disapproval? Apparently not. The IOC finds themselves in the position of defending Beijing in order to defend their decision to hold the games in China. A few broken heads won’t move them to admit they made a terrible blunder.

Blowback

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Comments

Stunned. Stunned, I am! I’m about to faint with the shock to my system upon hearing that China, glorious, beautiful China, Home to Mao and his great leap forward, home to the last great bastion of Communism (O Wondrous system!) would dare stoop to not letting a journalist do their job!

Don’t they know that journalists dream of communism at night anyway? Why rough up those on your side?

/end sarcasm.

Smart move, IOC. Did they do this in Moscow? Defend the regime, I mean. And did they ever defend the US?

Funny Ed how you suddenly become a fan of journalists when they’re being harrassed by Chinese authorities. And does buying cheap crap at Wal-Mart count as “toadying to the oppressive Chinese government”?

I’m not a believer but I was offended by the Chinese not allowing chaplains into the Olympic Village. If they are so afraid of chaplain cooties infecting the chinese athletes, maybe it is the chinese athletes who should be kicked out of the Olympic Village?

Funny Ed how you suddenly become a fan of journalists when they’re being harrassed by Chinese authorities. And does buying cheap crap at Wal-Mart count as “toadying to the oppressive Chinese government”?

Grow Fins on August 15, 2008 at 12:49 PM

If the journalist had been protesting alongside the protesters, I’d say that the ChiComs were somewhat justified, even though I don’t agree with them. The fact that he was simply reporting (which was obvious if the idiots had only been watching for a few moments) should have told them “hands off.”

So short of some journalist winding up getting shot and killed, exactly what is it going to take to convince the IOC to stop this pandering garbage and stop holding the Games in oppressive dictatorship countries like COMMUNIST China?!!!!

And wile that journalist was released 15 minutes later, I can only pray that that woman who gave the emotional reaction ‘because of these westerners here’ wasn’t also picked up. Because she would have “gone missing” for a lot longer.

Funny Ed how you suddenly become a fan of journalists when they’re being harassed by Chinese authorities.

I was thinking the same thing. Ed’s hysterical, frothing, crazy-eyed anti-Chinese bias is so obvious in every single thread he writes, I’m surprised he hasn’t advocated that we nuke China off the map and hunt down the survivors for enslavement.

Funny Ed how you suddenly become a fan of journalists when they’re being harrassed by Chinese authorities.

Yep, let’s all cheer when a journalist is being hassled by the Chinese for doing their job. Hooray!!!! Sorry, motek, we’re pissed that they are treating journalists like this when they are doing their jobs properly.

Funny Ed how you suddenly become a fan of journalists when they’re being harrassed by Chinese authorities. And does buying cheap crap at Wal-Mart count as “toadying to the oppressive Chinese government”?

I was thinking the same thing. Ed’s hysterical, frothing, crazy-eyed anti-Chinese bias is so obvious in every single thread he writes, I’m surprised he hasn’t advocated that we nuke China off the map and hunt down the survivors for enslavement.

It is a blog entry about yesterday’s press conference with the IOC and BOGOC. But what’s even more interesting are the comments defending china’s behavior and the castigation of the reporters. Methinks the chinese apologists are out in force…

I was thinking the same thing. Ed’s hysterical, frothing, crazy-eyed anti-Chinese bias

Bishop on August 15, 2008 at 1:04 PM

Anti Chinese bias? Reporting on what the Chinese actually do is not bias. Ignoring things that they do to make this a nice happy wonderful Olympics, like NBC and the IOC are doing is pro-Chinese bias. Would you rather Ed took a neutral stance on the issue of the murdering, genocidal regime?

That’s what liberals I know say whenever something crazy happens in the world – - it’s Bush’s fault because he’s screwed things up so bad all over the world. It couldn’t possibly be some other world leader’s fault – - there’s just no way.

The IOC and the UN are cut from the same cloth. BLAH BLAH BLAH … strings of hollow words and do nothing.

And many people gave me hell on other threads when I spoke of Boycotting the Olympics and Boycotting China and Boycotting products in America with China labels.

THAT IS WHY! Among a plethora of other reasons.

China is making Democratic countries, freedom, and democracy its lap dog, and sooo many Democratic freedom loving countries and their people seem to be just a-okay with that. The IOC was played by China like a cheap violin. And the IOC always was, and still is, China’s massive propaganda tool of the 21st century. It’s pathetic.

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED! Don’t be a fool! Boycott the Olympics! Boycott China Labels!

The big question I have is why didn’t the Chinese police confiscate the camera’s and destroy them? I’m not trying to defend them. But the question begs to be answered. I saw no night sticks come out. No blood. Well maybe I am trying to defend them a bit.
However, I’m glad that the obnoxious reporter did his job. It was good practice for the Chinese authorities. And it allowed them to see that these sorts of protests are largely ignored and that it is “best” to simply allow them to continue until the protesters get tired or hungry and go away.
I’m one who beieves that freedom has taken hold in China and now that Pandora’s box has been opened, well its just a matter of a decade or so before it really begins to blossum. We’re seeing some of the growing pains. I was encouraged by the video. DD

I really don’t give a damn what the Chinese do. I want to enjoy the olympics. I think that using the olympics to score cheap political points insults all the athletes who have spent years of their lives training for this moment.

If i’m honest with myself, i will tell you that i don’t really care what they do to those protesters. They are trying to take away from the hardwork of thousands of people, and I think it is quite selfish.

Grow Fins assumes that if you disagree with someone, then you should also want to physically assault them or at the very least condone it when someone else does so. I.e. he is projecting left-wing behaviour pattern onto us conservatives.

The IOC finds themselves in the position of defending Beijing in order to defend their decision to hold the games in China.

That is absolutely “spot on” as the Brits say. The same applies to the servile media, most especially the shameless hacks at NBC, who have been so over the top in their praise of all things ChiCom.

Also, the IOC is made up of bland, metrosexual bureaucrats who are not going to do anything to call attention to themselves and thereby potentially endanger the paychecks they receive for log-rolling on various committees and boards. They’re in it to be part of a hive and get money and security; they’re not in it to “make a difference” for journalists or anybody else.

I had been hoping earlier on that this would help open China up, but it seems to me that the whole thing has been an abject failure.

Connie on August 15, 2008 at 2:13 PM

I worked for a large international investment firm in the ’80′s. The story back then was that the huge amounts of money to be made off of industrializing and growing China were the fruits of a great altruism that was helping China reform itself into a democracy. It was self serving BS then and it’s self serving BS now. It’s about making as much moeny as possible as quickly as possible. If you can put a yankee doodle dandy spin on it, so much the better.

Yes, but the opening ceremonies were breathtaking and we shouldn’t let a few human rights violations stand in the way of our enjoyment. (pure and complete and unadulterated as well as unapologetic sarcasm intended).

I really don’t give a damn what the Chinese do. I want to enjoy the olympics. I think that using the olympics to score cheap political points insults all the athletes who have spent years of their lives training for this moment.

If i’m honest with myself, i will tell you that i don’t really care what they do to those protesters. They are trying to take away from the hardwork of thousands of people, and I think it is quite selfish.

Chudi on August 15, 2008 at 2:33 PM

I suppose you considered Munich a cheap political point as well. Politics has always been deeply intermixed with the Olympics. The very sites chosen are political. Well, try not to think about those Tibetans. Or the 500,000 in the gulags in China. Let’s not spoil the fun.